Sunday, January 17th, 2010

"Hot Burrito No. 2"

Dinosaur Jr covers The Flying Burrito Brothers

Rate Your MusicWhilst loitering in the vinyl section of Sonic Boom a couple weeks ago, I overheard a group of kids – I’m calling people clearly in their early 20s kids now – doing the same and upon reaching the “F” section, exclaim something along the lines of “Oh my god, there’s a band called The Flying Burrito Brothers! That’s hilarious!”. Yes, Virginia, there is and I had to wonder what they’re teaching in school these days that they didn’t know that the Burritos and their leader, Gram Parsons, would lay the template for the next forty years of (good) country rock.

And that would Include Dinosaur Jr and their self-described “ear-bleeding country”. The down-home influence might not be immediately detectable through the wall of fuzz, endless soloing and J Mascis’… distinctive vocals but it’s there – and Dino Jr’s cover of the Burritos’ “Hot Burrito No. 2” helps make that connection a little more evident. Released as the b-side of “Get Me”, circa Where You Been, the song itself is rendered pretty faithfully but is wholly done Dino Jr-style, particularly “Sneaky” Pete Kleinow’s fuzz solo in the outro. Especially the solo.

Dinosaur Jr are in town this Thursday night for a sold-out show at the Phoenix and Ottawa Express has an interview with Dino drummer Murph and The Toronto Star with Lou Barlow. Both the Burritos and Parson are long, long gone but their legacy is established and they continue to find new generations of fans – after the kid in Sonic Boom finished laughing at their name, he said “I have to hear these guys!”.

Update: And how about this for synchronicity – Dinosaur Jr will be playing an in-store at Sonic Boom – just meters away from that Flying Burrito Brothers LP – this Thursday night at 6:30PM. My head just exploded. Or will, shortly, from the sound pressure out of J’s amps. Excited!